U.S. patent number 6,253,706 [Application Number 09/439,444] was granted by the patent office on 2001-07-03 for wild bird feeder.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Gold Crest Distributing, Inc.. Invention is credited to Conrad B. Sloop.
United States Patent |
6,253,706 |
Sloop |
July 3, 2001 |
Wild bird feeder
Abstract
A wild bird feeder with a transparent seed hopper, a skirt below
the seed hopper, a base beneath the skirt, and a device for
connecting the base and the skirt while maintaining a feeding gap
between the base and the skirt. The feeding gap is formed by a top
surface and a bottom surface, and the skirt contains a downwardly
extending lip which extends downwardly at least to the top surface
of the feeding gap.
Inventors: |
Sloop; Conrad B. (Pittsford,
NY) |
Assignee: |
Gold Crest Distributing, Inc.
(Mexico, MO)
|
Family
ID: |
26806856 |
Appl.
No.: |
09/439,444 |
Filed: |
November 15, 1999 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
119/57.9;
119/52.3 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A01K
39/012 (20130101); A01K 39/014 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A01K
39/014 (20060101); A01K 39/00 (20060101); A01K
39/012 (20060101); A01K 039/01 () |
Field of
Search: |
;119/57.9,57.8,52.1,52.2,52.3,469,468 ;D30/124,128 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Jordan; Charles T.
Assistant Examiner: Abbott; Yvonne R.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Greenwald & Basch LLP
Greenwald; Howard J.
Parent Case Text
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION
Priority for this patent application is based upon applicant's
copending provisional application No. 60/109,321, filed on Nov. 20,
1998.
Claims
I claim:
1. A wild bird feeder comprised of a transparent seed hopper, a
skirt disposed below said seed hopper, a base disposed beneath said
skirt, and means for connecting said base and said skirt while
maintaining a feeding gap between said base and said skirt, wherein
said feeding gap is formed by a top surface and a bottom surface,
and wherein said skirt is comprised of a downwardly extending lip
which extends downwardly at least to the top surface of said
feeding gap, wherein said wild bird feeder is comprised of a perch
disposed beneath and connected to said base, and wherein said perch
is comprised of a first upstanding ridge and a second upstanding
annular ridge whose height exceeds the height of said first
upstanding annular ridge.
2. The wild bird feeder as recited in claim 1, wherein said perch
is connected to said base by a rod extending through the center of
said perch and said base.
3. The wild bird feeder as recited in claim 2, wherein said base is
not contiguous with said perch.
4. A wild bird feeder comprised of a transparent seed hopper, a
skirt disposed below said seed hopper, a base disposed beneath said
skirt, and means for connecting said base and said skirt while
maintaining a feeding gap between said base and said skirt, wherein
said feeding gap is formed by a top surface and a bottom surface,
wherein said skirt is comprised of a downwardly extending lip which
extends downwardly at least to the top surface of said feeding gap,
and wherein said base is comprised of a top section with a
substantially conical shape.
5. The wild bird feeder as recited in claim 4, wherein said
substantially conical shape of said top section of said base
terminates in an upwardly extending ledge.
6. A wild bird feeder comprised of a transparent seed hopper, a
skirt disposed below said seed hopper, a base disposed beneath said
skirt, and means for connecting said base and said skirt while
maintaining a feeding gap between said base and said skirt, wherein
said feeding gap is formed by a top surface and a bottom surface,
wherein said skirt is comprised of a downwardly extending lip which
extends downwardly at least to the top surface of said feeding gap,
wherein said wild bird feeder is comprised of a roof disposed over
said transparent feed hopper, and wherein a rain trap is disposed
over said roof.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
A wild bird feeder that is so constructed that rain and snow cannot
enter the feeding port and the seed within the feeder stays
dry.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Wild bird feeders are well known to those skilled in the art. By
way of illustration, U.S. Pat. No. 3,372,676 of Robert H. Williams
et al. discloses a bird feeder which excludes sparrows from feeding
but allows cardinals to feed.
The bird feeder of the Williams et al. patent, and other prior art
bird feeders, do not invariably prevent rain and/or snow from
entering the feeding trough of the feeder.
It is an object of this invention to provide a wild bird feeder
which invariably prevents rain and/or snow from entering the
feeding area of the feeder.
It is another object of this invention to provide a wild bird
feeder which is vented so that moisture does not accumulate inside
its seed hopper.
It is another object of this invention to provide a wild bird
feeder which allows viewers substantially greater visibility of the
feeding birds than prior art feeders.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with this invention, there is provided a wild bird
feeder comprised of a seed hopper with transparent walls, a roof
disposed on top of said seed hopper, wherein at least one vent gap
exists between said roof and said seed hopper, means for connecting
said roof to seed hopper, a skirt disposed beneath said feed
hopper, a base disposed beneath said skirt, and at least one
feeding gap exists between said base and said skirt.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be described by reference to this specification
and the enclosed drawings, in which like numbers refer to like
elements, and in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one preferred embodiment of the
wild bird feeder of the invention;
FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the bird feeder of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the bird feeder of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view of the bird feeder of FIG.
1;
FIG. 4A is a partial sectional view showing a means of locking the
base of the feeder to its skirt;
FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view of the feeding area of the bird
feeder of FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view of the roof area of the bird
feeder of FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another preferred bird feeder of
the invention; and
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the squirrel cage used in the
feeder of FIG. 7.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wild bird feeder 10 which is
comprised of a seed hopper 12, a roof 14 disposed on seed hopper 12
and separated therefrom by a clamp (not shown), a skirt 16 disposed
below seed hopper 12, a base (not shown in FIG. 1) disposed beneath
skirt 16, and a perch 18 disposed beneath said base. In one
embodiment, not shown, perch 18 is comprised of a multiplicity of
drain holes.
In one embodiment, seed hopper 12 is made from a material which is
transparent under normal conditions. In one preferred embodiment,
hopper 12 is made from polycarbonate. One may use any commercially
available polycarbonate such as, e.g., "Lexan" (a polycarbonate
resin sold by the General Electric Company), "MRC PC100VHUV" (a
ultraviolet-stabilized polycarbonate sold by the MRC Company), and
the like. The preferred polycarbonate is transparent (i.e., it has
at least about 90 percent light transmission), noncorrosive,
weather and ozone resistant, non-toxic, and stain resistant.
In one embodiment, the hopper 12 is made from acrylic.
Referring again to FIG. 1, and in the preferred embodiment depicted
therein, both the seed hopper 12 and skirt 16 consist essentially
of polycarbonate.
Hanger 20 is connected to a rod (not shown), and it may be used to
hang the feeder 10 from a pole (not shown) or a tree branch (not
shown).
FIG. 2 is a an exploded view showing one preferred construction of
feeder 10. Referring to FIG. 2, it will be seen that hanger 20 is
adapted to receive end 22 of rod 24 within an insert 26 (see FIG.
3) which contains female threads which engage the male threads on
end 22. A rain trap 28 is disposed around insert 26.
Referring again to FIG. 2, the end 22 of rod 24 extends through
orifices (not shown) in base 30, skirt 16, seed hooper 12, and nut
34. A second rod, lower rod 36, extends through an orifice (not
shown) in perch 18, boss 38 integrally connected to perch 18,
hairpin clip 40 into a coupler 42 comprised of an orifice (not
shown) with internal threads (not shown) which coupler preferably
has a hexagonal shape. In the preferred embodiment depicted in FIG.
2, the coupler 42 is integrally connected to rod 24, preferably
being joined thereto by anaerobic adhesive. One suitable anaerobic
adhesive is sold under the name of "LOCTITE" by the Loctite
Corproation of Newington, Conn. As is known to those skilled in the
art, these anaerobic polymers retain liquid while exposed to air
and automatically harden without heat or catalysts when confined
between closely fitting metal parts.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of feeder 10. Referring to FIG. 3, and
to a hypothetical grain of seed within seed hopper 12, it will be
seen that seed grain 44 will be attracted by the force of gravity
in the direction of arrow 46 until it contacts the inclined surface
48 of base 30 and falls towards gap 50. As will be discussed
elsewhere in this specification, the seed grain 44 will sit within
gap 50 until it picked out by a wild bird.
The gap 50 is preferably an annular gap, extending around at least
about 90 per cent of the periphery of the downwardly extending
flange 52 of skirt 18. One may use conventional means, such as
upstanding ribs 51 (see FIG. 4A, which illustrates the interaction
between upstanding ribs 51 and downwardly extending fork 53)
integrally formed on the top surface of base 18, to separate the
base 18 from the flange 52 on the skirt 16 to form gap 50. In one
embodiment, flange 52 contains downwardly extending forks 53 to
engage the upstanding ribs 51 and to prevent rotation between the
skirt 16 and the base 30. Other means of preventing rotation
between the skirt 16 and the base 30 also may be used.
Referring again to FIG. 3, it will be seen that the skirt 16 is
comprised of a downwardly extending lip 54 which preferably is
integrally connected with the inclined surface 56 of skirt 16. It
preferred that downwardly extending lip 54 extend beneath gap 50 so
that wind or rain driven in the direction of arrows 58, 60, and 62
cannot enter gap 50.
Referring again to FIG. 3, it will be seen that rod 36 is
integrally connected to knob 64 by conventional means such as,
e.g., adhesive means. In one embodiment, anaerobic adhesive is used
to make such connection.
FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view of the portion 66 of bird feeder
10 depicted in FIG. 3. Referring to FIG. 4, it will be seen that
perch 18 is adapted to accommodate both small and large birds, such
as, e.g., small goldfinch and large cardinals. The perch 18 is
preferably comprised of upstanding circular flanges 68 and 70. The
smaller birds can stand on the top 72 of flange 68; the larger
birds can stand on the top 74 of flange 70; and both flange 68 and
70 are so dimensioned that both the smaller and larger birds can
reach the seed (not shown) within seed gap 50.
In one embodiment, the vertical distance 76 between the top 72 of
flange 68 and the feed gap 50 is preferably from about 2.5 to about
3.3 inches, and the vertical distance 78 between the top 74 of
flange 70 and the feed gap 50 is from about 3.5 to about 4.5
inches. The horizontal distance 80 between the top 72 of flange 68
and the and the feed gap 50 is from about 0.5 to 1.3 inches, and
the horizontal distance 82 between the top 74 of flange 70 and the
feed gap 50 is from about 1.4 to about 2.5 inches.
Referring again to FIG. 4, and in the preferred embodiment depicted
therein, it will be seen that hairpin clip 40 fits in a groove (not
shown) formed in lower rod 36 to retain the lower rod 36 within
perch 18.
An annular gasket 84 is disposed between feed hopper 12 and skirt
16. A hexagonal recess 86 is formed within the within the bottom
surface 88 of base 30 receive hexagonal coupler 42. An upstanding
flange 90, which preferably is annular, is integrally formed on the
top surface of skirt 16 and is adapted to receive and align feed
hopper 12.
FIG. 5 is partial sectional view of area 92 of FIG. 3. Referring to
FIG. 5, and in the preferred embodiment disclosed therein, it will
be seen that seed grain 44 is prevented from falling out of gap 50
by upstanding ledge 94, which is integrally formed with base 30. In
the preferred embodiment depicted in FIG. 5, the upstanding ledge
94 offset from downwardly projecting flange 52 of skirt 16 by a
distance 96 of from about minus -0.2 to about plus 0.2 inches. When
the distance 96 is positive (to the right), such as plus 0.2
inches, the seed 44 will tend not to flow freely from gap 50. When
the distance 96 is negative (to the left), such as minus 0.2
inches, the seed 44 will tend to flow freely from gap 50.
Referring again to FIG. 5, it will be seen that gap 50 has a width
98 of from about 0.08 to about 0.13 inches. Applicant has
discovered that gaps outside of this range do not produce
satisfactory results.
Referring again to FIG. 5, it will be seen that lip 54 of skirt 16
extends below the top 102 of gap 50 by a distance 100 of from about
0 to about 1.5 inches. In one embodiment, distance 100 is from
about 0.5 to about 0.7 inches.
The inclined surface 48 forms an angle 104 of from about 20 to
about 30 degrees to facilitate the flow of seed grain 44 from the
center of the hopper 12 to the gap 50.
FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view of area 106 of FIG. 3, which
shows the venting which preferably exists in applicant's feeder 10.
Referring to FIG. 6, it will be seen that a clamp 32 which
preferably contains three equally spaced radial arms. The top
surface 108 of clamp 32 is so dimensioned that roof 14 is not
contiguous with seed hopper 12 and, consequently, forms a vent gap
110 to allow moisture within the seed (not shown) to escape when
heated by the sun. Applicant has discovered that this venting is
critical to insure the seed grains do not decay prematurely. The
vent gap 110 preferably is from about 0.06 to about 0.2 inches.
Referring again to FIG. 6, it will be seen that roof 14 is
comprised of a boss 112 integrally connected thereto. In the
preferred embodiment depicted, boss 112 extends upwardly inside of
rain trap 28 to further prevent the entry of rain into seed hopper
12. In the preferred embodiment depicted, it will be seen that roof
14 is comprised of a downwardly extending skirt 114 which tends to
prevent water from entering the vent gap 110.
FIG. 7 illustrates a wild bird feeder 116 which is similar to bird
feeder 10 but also contains a squirrel guard 118. The squirrel
guard 118, which is designed to prevent squirrels from entering the
feeder but allow birds to feed, is preferably a circular cage
comprised of a top ring 120, a bottom ring 122, and a multiplicity
of a vertical bars 124 joining the top ring 120 and bottom ring
122. In one embodiment, vertical bars 124 are spot welded to top
ring 120 and bottom ring 122.
In one preferred, the vertical bars 124 are equally spaced around
top ring 120 and bottom ring 122 and, thus, the distance 126
between adjacent bars is substantially constant. The distance 126
is critical: it must be below 1.5 inches (to prevent the entry of
squirrels), and it must be above 1.2 inches to allow cardinals to
enter. Thus, the distance 126 is preferably from about 1.25 to
about 1.4 inches.
The squirrel guard 118 is preferably so dimensioned that its fits
between flanges 68 and 70 on perch 18 and fits up under skirt 16,
but inside flange 54.
It is to be understood that the aforementioned description is
illustrative only and that changes can be made in the apparatus, in
the ingredients and their proportions, and in the sequence of
combinations and process steps, as well as in other aspects of the
invention discussed herein, without departing from the scope of the
invention as defined in the following claims.
* * * * *